81-Year-Old RI Woman Wins $336 Million Powerball Jackpot
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (CBS) - Louise White of Newport, Rhode Island came forward Tuesday as the winner of last month's $336.4 million Powerball jackpot.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Kim Tunnicliffe reports.
Podcast
Louise White is the 81-year-old mother of prominent Newport jazz musician LeRoy White, according to TheNewportBuzz.com.
"I am very happy, and I am very proud," said White. "This will make my family very happy. We are truly blessed."
White choose to take the lump sum payment of $210 million instead of taking the 30 annuity payments paid out over 29 years.
The check was paid out to a trust she named "The Rainbow Sherbert Trust," representing the ice cream she purchased at the Stop & Shop supermarket on Bellevue Avenue in Newport the night she bought three Powerball quickpicks. One of them, of course, was the winning ticket.
White said she wrote down the results of the Feb. 11 drawing as they were announced on TV (1-10-37-52-57, and the Powerball was 11), and double-checked the numbers with family members online.
"We hugged each other and jumped up and down screaming! Then I was told to, 'sign it quick!'" White said, in a statement. "We hid the ticket in the Bible and went for breakfast on Sunday since we couldn't do
anything with it."
She added that with her winnings, she will take care of her large family and may take a vacation.
This is the largest jackpot ever won in Rhode Island, and third largest Powerball jackpot in the history of the game.
Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chaffee was in attendance for the news conference.
